Toy dump wagons



April 28, 1970 c. GAZDARICA 3,

TOY DUMP WAGONS Filed June 6, 1968 United States Patent 3,508,789 TOYDUMP WAGONS Cyril Gazdarica, near Tilley, Alberta, Canada Filed June 6,1968, Ser. No. 734,959 Int. Cl. B60p 1/14 US. Cl. 298-19 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE My invention relates to improvements in toydump wagons.

An important object of my invention is to provide a toy dump wagon whichmay be pulled either by a handle bar or by a hitch connectible to achilds vehicle such as a tricycle, and which, with or without the justmentioned pulling equipment, may be pushed from the back of the toywagon.

Another important object of my invention is the provision of a toy dumpwagon which during use educates a child in the construction andoperation of a variety of kinds of machinery and machine elements, suchas hinges, pivots, latches, levers, springs, connecting rods,windlasses, detents and castor wheels.

My invention also aims to provide a toy wagon with a box that may behoisted and dumped by means of lifting mechanism, that may be held in adesired elevated position by ratchet means and that may be lowered byreleasing the ratchet means and backing off on the lifting mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent duringthe course of the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, andin which drawing,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of my top dump wagon, a part being broken awayto show concealed mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a view of my toy dump wagon, partly in side elevation andpartly in central vertical longitudinal section.

FIG. 3 is a right side elevational view of my toy dump wagon, partsbeing broken away to show concealed mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view partly in side elevation and partly inlongitudinal vertical section showing hitch means connected between theWagon front end and the back of a tricycle.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view in side elevation showing a modified formof support for my toy dump wagon.

In the drawing which, for the purpose of illustration. shows a preferredembodiment of the invention, and wherein similar reference charactersdenote corresponding parts throughout the views, the numeral 5 generallydesignates my toy wagon including a frame 6 having a rectangular rearend portion 7 of a suitable length and width and a U-shaped front endportion 8 of a lesser width than the width of the rear end portion 7 ofthe frame 6, and disposed symmetrically of the longitudinal center ofthe frame 6. Fixedly mounted on the rear end portion 7 of the frame 6 isa platform 9 which is supported along with the rear end portion 7 of theframe 6 by two spaced ground wheels 10, 11 that rotate on an axle 12aflixed transversely below the rear end portion 7 of the frame 6. as bybracket means 13. Pivotally connected below the 3,508,789 Patented Apr.28, 1970 front end portion 8 of the frame 6, as by a bolt 14, is aswivel fork 15 having its forked end 16 mounted on a front ground wheel17, as by an axle pin 18 and having a normally forwardly extending shankend '19 to which is pivotally secured, as by a crosspin 20, a pull rod21 terminating at its normally forward end in a D-shaped handle 22.Pivoted at its rear end portion 23 to the aft r end of the platform 9 asby suitable bracket means 24 for swinging movement between a position ofrest on the platform 9 and an elevated and dumping position is a box 25provided at its open rear end with a tailgate 26 that is pivoted at theupper rear end of the box, as by a hinge 27. Pivotally mounted at thelower rear end portion of box 25, as by a bracket 28, is a latch 29swingable between angulary spaced positions in one of which positions,as shown in FIG. 2, the latch 29 engages the lower edge of the tailgate26 or a relatively short bar 30 at the lower edge of the tailgate 26 tohold the tailgate 26 closed and in the other spaced position, shown inFIG. 3, the latch 29 releases the tailgate 26 and permits it to open bygravity when the box 25 is elevated to its dumping position. Afiixed forpivotal swinging movement at the lower forward end portion of the box,as by a bracket 31, is a tailgate control lever 32 that is pivotallyconnected to the tail gate latch 29 by a link 33 of any suitable rigidmaterial such as heavy wire. Affixed longitudinally and centrally of therear end portion 7 of the frame 6 is a track 34 which may consist ofspaced parallel confronting channel irons 35, 36 providing a way withinwhich a reciprocable member 37 may roll or slide. Connected to thereciprocably mounted member 37 is one end 38 of a contractile coilspring 39 having its other end 40 connected to the rear end portion 7 ofthe frame 6 so as to urge the member 37 rearwardly along the track 34.Pivotally connected to the member 37 is one end of a rigid bar 41 havingits other end pivotally connected to the lower forward end of the box25, as by bracket 42. Also connected to the reciprocable member 37 isone end of a rope 43 having its opposite end portion coiled onto thereel 44 of a windlass 45 that has its shaft 46 journaled transversely ofthe front end portion 8 of the frame 6. The windlass 45 includes a crank47 as well as a ratchet wheel 48 fastened on the shaft 46 and areleasable detent 49 mounted on the side of the frame 6 as by a pivot50. The sides of the box 25 have rearwardly and downwardly inclinedupper edge portions 51, 52 located over the rear ground wheels 10, 11providing better handholds for a person pushing the wagon from the back.

Referring now to FIG. 4, instead of using the pull rod 21 shown in FIGS.1-3, I may provide a drawbar 53 having its rear end pivoted to thecastor wheel swivel fork shank 19, as by a crosspin 54, and having aforward end portion attached, as by a bolt 55, to the rear bar 56 thatextends between the back wheels of a conventional tricycle 57.

In the use and operation of the top dump wagon, clockwise rotation ofthe windlass crank 47 winds rope 43 onto the reel 44 thereby drawing thereciprocably mounted member 37 forwardly along the track 34 against thetension and resistance of the contractile coil spring 39. This forwardmovement of the member 37 carries with it the rigid bar 41 whichelevates the forward end of the box 25 toward and into the dumpingposition shown in FIG. 3. Clockwise swinging of the tailgate controllever 32 releases the link 33 permitting the tailgate latch 29 toretract and the tailgate to open by gravity. Release of the windlassdetent 49 and counterclockwise rotation of the windlass crank 47 permitspaying out of the rope 43 and rearward movement of the reciprocablemember 37 under the influence of the contractile coil spring 39 therebyresulting in lowering of the box 25.

Instead of supporting my toy dump wagon directly on the axle 12, I mayattach leaf springs such as the spring 58 shown in FIG. 5, for pivotallyconnecting the forward end of the spring to the underside of the frame 6as by a bracket 59 and connecting the afterend of the spring to theframe 6 by shackle-links such as the shackle link 60.

Various changes may be made in the form of invention herein shown anddescribed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Iclaim:

1. A toy Wagon comprising a frame having a front end portion and a rearend portion, ground wheels supporting the rear end portion of the frame,at least one ground wheel pivotally supporting the front end portion ofthe frame, a box having a front end portion and a rear end portion, saidbox having its rear end portion pivoted to the rear end portion of theframe for swinging between a position of rest on the frame and anelevated dumping position, a track fixed longitudinally of the frame,said track including a pair of opposed channel members, a member guidedfor movement along the track, a rigid link having one end pivoted tosaid member and another end pivoted to the front end portion of the box,a tension spring connected between one end of said track and one end ofsaid member for urging the member in one direction along the track, aline connected to said member, a Windlass mounted at the front endportion of the frame adapted to reel in said line and thereby draw saidmember along the track and to pay out said line to allow reversemovement of said member under the influence of said spring.

2. A toy Wagon as defined in claim 1 in which the rear end portion ofsaid box is provided with a tailgate pivotaL ly mounted for swingingbetween open and closed positions, a latch pivotally movable betweenlatched and unlatched positions relative to said tailgate in its closedposition, a tailgate control lever pivotally mounted at the forward endportion of said box, and a link between the lever and latch, said leverbeing movable between spaced positions in which said latch is disposedin its latched and unlatched positions respectively.

3. A toy wagon as defined in claim 1 in which the windlass is providedwith a ratchet and a detent releasably engageable with the ratchet.

4. A toy Wagon as defined in claim 1 in which the front ground wheel isa castor mounted in a swivel fork.

5. A toy wagon as defined in claim 1 in which the box and the rear endportion of the frame are rectangular and of approximately the samelength and width, and the front end portion of the frame is of a lesserwidth than and extends forwardly of the box.

6. A toy wagon as defined in claim 2 in which the box and the rear endportion of the frame are rectangular and of approximately the samelength and width, and the front end portion of the frame is of a lesserwidth than and extends forwardly of the box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,028,525 6/1912 Auth. 1,373,0003/1921 Gilbert. 1,797,471 3/1931 Jones. 2,846,266 8/1958 Stott.

FOREIGN PATENTS 610,685 6/1926 France.

R. J JOHNSON, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 46-2l4

